Sri Lankan Navy apprehends 12 Tamil Nadu fishermen

MADURAI: Twelve Pudukottai fishermen who were fishing near Delft island in the Palkbay area were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy. It has become a regular occurrence for Indian fishermen to be jailed by the Sri Lankan Navy and their boats seized by the government.

Twelve fishermen went fishing from Pudukottai district Jagadapattinam on Wednesday in two boats numbered TN 08 MM 1802, and TN 08 MM 065.When the fishermen in the two boats were catching fish near Delft island in Palkbay sea, the Sri Lankan Navy patrolling the area apprehended them claiming that they had crossed the border and caught "their" fish. Sri Lankan Navy also confiscated the fishermen's boats. The apprehended fishermen have been taken to Myalati beach camp in Jaffna for questioning.

The fact that the Sri Lankan Navy has apprehended the fishermen has also caused great turmoil among Pudukottai fishermen. This is a second occurrence of such an incident within a week's time.

Earlier in March. the Sri Lankan Navy seized two Indian trawlers along with 16 Indian nationals northeast of Veththalakeni and off the Analativu Island. The Sri Lankan Navy said that it continues to carry out regular patrols and operations in Lankan waters to curb illegal fishing practices of fishing trawlers.

Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President K Annamalai also wrote a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar requesting the ministry's intervention for the repatriation of 16 fishermen who have been arrested by the Sri Lankan navy. In the letter, K Annamalai called for the intervention of the External Affairs Ministry for the early repatriation of the detainees. He noted that two fishing boats belonging to the fishermen had also been seized.

In February, Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka also strongly raised the issue of attacks on Indian fishermen with Sri Lankan authorities. Indian High Commission called on the Sri Lankan government to investigate the matter and ensure that use of force and violence in any form is not used against the fishermen.